The house flipping launch plan
Every step from deciding to opening, in the order it happens, shaped to your situation, with your own numbers beside it. About 44 steps in 8 phases, 20 of them specific to a house flipping. Free to read; ticking steps off and putting in your own numbers come with membership.
The plan44 steps
- 01Not started0/6Fold
Decide with the numbersa week or two
Before a dollar is spent. Most expensive mistakes happen here, and this phase costs nothing.
A flip makes money one way: the spread.
Typical for one unit is $400,000 to $3,000,000 a year; the owner keeps 7 to 13% of it before paying themselves. If that band does not cover what you need, that is the signal to pause and look again.
25.5% gross return, 2025. The typical flip in 2025 resold for $325,000 after a $259,019 purchase: a $65,981 spread, the lowest return since 2008.
Twelve questions about your money, time, experience and temperament, scored. Then the 5 questions this business asks of its owner, about the hours and the work. Answer both before you spend a dollar.
Rule of thumb: start lean and prove you can find and execute a deal profitably before you scale. Answer it in your situation above and the plan reshapes.
Customers, prices, rent, staff pay, what it costs to open. We filled in typical numbers; change what you know and everything on this page follows.
- 02Not started0/5Open
Plan the moneya week
What it costs to open, where the money comes from, and the cushion that keeps you alive until the business pays for itself.
Flipping is capital-intensive in a specific way: you are not building out a location, you are floating a house.
The itemized cost to open7 lines
- First house purchase: $150,000 to $250,000A dated 3 bed, 2 bath house bought below market; the biggest swing by far
- Buy-side closing, inspections and loan fees: $5,200 to $14,400Title and settlement, inspection, sewer scope, and 1.5 to 3 loan points
- Rehab trades and materials: $22,000 to $116,000Paint, flooring, kitchen, appliances, baths, curb appeal and repairs; a roof and HVAC at the top
- Permits and rehab contingency: $3,500 to $10,500Building permits plus 10% to 15% held back for what the walls hide
- Holding costs and insurance through the sale: $5,100 to $12,900Taxes, utilities and upkeep for five to six months, a vacant-house policy and liability
- LLC, seller mailing and staging: $1,200 to $9,600The company filing, a first mailing to motivated sellers, and staging for the sale
- Initial working capital: $30,000 to $80,000Overhead and the loan payment until the first sale closes, and room to absorb a slow one
Costs start on day one; customers take months. Map the first twelve months of cash so the business does not run out of money while it is getting going.
The business has to earn your pay like any other bill. Set it in your numbers and watch the month it move.
How deals in this business are financed4 lines
- Hard-money or fix-and-flip loan (6-24 mo, interest only · 9-13% + 1.5-3 points)The workhorse of flipping: short-term, asset-based financing that closes fast, funds about 90% of the purchase and all of the rehab in draws, and is paid off when the house sells.
- Private money / partners (Negotiated · interest or profit share)Individuals or partners lend or invest in the deal for interest or a share of the profit.
- Line of credit / HELOC (Revolving · secured by real estate)A revolving line, often against other real estate, gives flexible, reusable capital for down payments, rehab, and carry across deals.
- Cash (No financing cost · maximum capital tied up)All-cash buyers close fastest and win competitive deals, and they pay no carry on financing.
Most new shops pair an with 10 to 20% of your own cash. Know the monthly payment before you look at a single space.
Before you shop. A lender tells you what they would fund, what they need from you (credit, your cash in, a plan with numbers), and a pre-qualification letter makes a landlord or a seller take you seriously.
- 03Not started0/4Open
Set up the companya day or two
A day of paperwork, and it has to come before the space: a lease, a loan application and every permit are in the company’s name.
Your state’s business name search, the trademark register, and the domain, before the name is on a sign, a van, or a lease.
A , an , and the S-corporation election each change what you keep and what you are exposed to. Compare them with the numbers, confirm with a CPA and an attorney, then file with your state.
After:The is free from the IRS in minutes once the company exists. The bank account needs both. Keep business money separate from day one.
After:Pick the accounting software and connect the bank account now, so every cost of opening is captured and the numbers you later are real.
- 04Not started0/4Open
The territory and the vehiclea week or two
Flipping has no storefront; your "location" is the market you buy and sell in.
What decides it for this business: aging, dated housing stock, steady supply of distressed / motivated sellers, strong resale demand for finished homes, price level that supports a real dollar spread, not flooded with other flippers.
Mobile businesses still answer to city rules: where the vehicle can be kept overnight, whether you can run the business from home, and what the state licenses.
The van or truck is the shop. Price it, outfit it, insure it, and brand it before the first job. The quotes go into the loan application.
Commercial auto for the vehicle, for the work. Customers and any lender will ask for the certificate.
- 05Not started0/2Open
Get the loanfour to eight weeks
Four to eight weeks with an SBA lender, longer if the file is incomplete. Everything else waits on this, so send a complete file.
Your plan with numbers (download it as a PDF from this page), the company’s papers, the vehicle and equipment quotes, your personal financial statement, and proof of the cash you put in.
The lender funds against the quotes and the insurance; the money goes to the vendors and the build.
After:
- 06Not started0/9Open
Permits and the vehicletwo to four weeks
Flipping is lighter on licensing than the regulated trades, but the renovation work is permitted and inspected, and skipping that creates real liability at resale.
Bind the policies you had quoted before a contractor, a vehicle or a customer is in play. Keep the certificates; the landlord, the lender and the city will ask.
After:With the money in hand: the vehicle, the , the branding, and the state inspection most cities require before it can work.
After:Register your or corporation, often one per deal or a holding structure, and obtain any local operating license.
With your state, before the first taxable sale. Usually free and online; check your state.
Doing the work yourself or as your own GC can require a contractor license depending on the state and the scope.
A vacant property under renovation needs coverage; standard homeowner policies do not apply to a flip.
Older homes trigger lead-paint (RRP) and asbestos handling requirements that are federally regulated and enforced.
State-required seller disclosures on condition, repairs, and known defects.
Transfer taxes on purchase and sale, and income tax treatment, flips are typically taxed as ordinary income, not capital gains.
- 07Not started0/8Open
Set up to runduring the build
During the build, so the business runs from day one: the systems, the prices, the people and the routine.
The engine of the business: lead lists, comps and after-repair-value analysis, and a deal calculator that applies the 70% rule.
Speed wins deals, and most flips are funded with hard money or private capital.
Scope, schedule, and cost tracking keep a renovation from running over, the single most common profit killer.
A dedicated account and clean per-project books keep each flip’s profit-and-loss separate, which matters for taxes, lenders, and knowing which deals actually...
See the price the the business needs implies, then check it against what the market pays.
Deal sourcing: The constant grind: off-market leads, wholesalers, auctions, agents,... Acquisition & funding: Close fast, often with hard money or private capital. Rehab: Run the renovation on scope and on budget: demo, systems, kitchen...
Opening, closing, the sale, the complaint, the cash. One page each. This is the manual a franchise would have sold you.
Free, and it is how most people will find you. Address, hours, photos and the menu or price list, live before opening day; then the sign, the soft opening and the first regulars.
- 08Not started0/6Open
Open and measurethe first ninety days
You own it. Now run it on the numbers.
Friends, neighbors and a short menu or list. Find the problems while the room is forgiving.
Enter the real numbers and see every cost line against the for this business.
The purchase price; Rehab overruns; Holding / carry cost.
Wages are the start: , insurance, training time and the hours you stop billing. Register as an employer and carry workers’ comp before the first payday.
Growth consumes cash before it produces it. Find the rate your own cash funds before you push.
Flipping is unusual on exit: the "exit" is the sale of each house, not the sale of a business.